Awesome little trail. Stayed at lake colden under my tarp for a quick in and out overnighter, it rained the whole time but it was fun nontheless. I definitely have no idea why this trail is rated hard though, there's a few rock scrambles that kids or older people (maybe some smaller dogs) might have trouble with at avalanche lake, but other than that it's mostly flat.

Pharaoh Lake Wilderness has an extensive trail system to many beautiful ponds and lakes. The Pharaoh Mountain Trail gives you the opportunity to get a mountain view after exploring all the lakes.

A word of caution about a descent on the north side after a rain: the exposed rock on the trail the first 1/4 mile or so from the summit can be extremely slippery. In the last five years hiking extensively in the Adirondacks—including some difficult exposed rock areas in the High Peaks—I’ve only taken two falls and both were on that stretch just below the summit of Pharaoh Mountain while descending.

Despite the falls, I still climb the mountain, but now climb the north side and descend the south side, or go there and back from the south side.

There are very nice designated camping spots on the summit if you want to haul water up.

Glidden Marsh is a nice side trip, and the trail south of the summit puts you on the northwest side of Pharaoh Lake, which is the less over-used side.

Such beautiful views in a serene environment! My DH and I leisurely strolled the trails taking in the pleasant music Springtime offers! All in all, a nice simple stroll with plenty of spots to sit and take in the sounds and views. Would love to come back and enjoy a picnic by the water and finish the other trails on the other side of the road (Don't miss those!) :-)

I did this hike with my friend last weekend. I think the mile markers are incorrect. says .9 to the first falls, and 2.1 to the second and third falls. we stayed on the marked trail the entire time, put 8 miles on my fit bit, and never made it to the 2nd or third falls. I would do it again. hoping to make it to the other two falls. the first falls were quite lovely. might be too strenuous for younger children.

One of the more challenging loops in the Lake George area. Strenuous length of 13 miles. I personally chose to take Northwest Bay Trail first to Montcalm point & tackle the peaks in order of First, French Point, Fifth. The paths are lightly trafficked & are hard to follow at points. Trail markers are also faded & sometimes hard to locate. The beautiful views fade as you march towards Fifth peak, so if I were to do it again, I would start with Fifth, going towards French & First, to "chase the views." Might also be nice finishing with flat forest trail at the Northwest Bay. Your choice, enjoy!

GREAT trail! I especially liked the bouldering along the lake. Started at the Adirondak Loj/Heart Lake. We camped at the tip of Lake Colden to try out some gear for a backpacking trip. Beautiful hike and mostly flat, just have to negotiate some large rocks. Definitely want to get back out on this one.

Difficult climb chose to do it the other day after a snowstorm. The hike was beautiful with the snow covered trees but unfortunately we had zero visibility at top but we still enjoyed the loop. Would like to revisit in the summer!

Hiked this back in August. It was my second high peak hike, so it was a long, rough day. The way up was uneventful, but still relatively steep and difficult. Summits were rainy and foggy with no views. It started pouring on the way down, making the one major section of steep rock pretty dangerous.

Trail was heavily trafficked with very friendly people. Took us about 8 hrs total. Highly recommend trekking poles (we didn't have them), your knees will thank you later.

Nice views from the top!! If u start from the jack rabbit trail located near whiteface lane you can find a herd path which will be a lot easier then the one from 86. Also McKenzie and haystack u can do it in one day. Cheers to winter hikers!!!

My 3rd hike(started this past summer) and 1st winter hike ever. I consider myself fit and fairly healthy. I haven’t done any conditioning in several months though. I decided to take this range on with a group. My legs felt like tree stumps most of the hike, but I made it through the whole range. There were some areas that were difficult but overall, it wasn’t bad.

Accidentally took this trail at first, but we stuck with it and turns out it was very worth it! The lake was frozen over, we walked the entire length of it over the ice through the valley. We passed the dike walls, and the steep rocks while crossing the lake. Was surreal views. I plan on visiting this trail in the summer to see the lake when it is actually water! Would recommend to see this in the winter (even if you don’t walk across the ice).

Great trail . Starts from the parking with a walk during about 1 mile . Then you start going up . Not too steep . After another 1mile then it get steep all the way up . Very windy up there but we had clear and very nice view on Marcy Colden , Gothic , all the way to Giant . Very nice trail . Worth trying .

Hiked Algonquin yesterday the weather was beautiful sitting at about 30 degrees Fahrenheit but windy especially above the tree line with winds upwards of 70+ miles an hour. Trail is packed down wore snowshoes for a little over half and switched to micro spikes which served well over the many sheets of ice towards the top. White out conditions above tree line made it hard to see the trail but followed rock cairns to the peak.

Decided to take a crack at the beast known as Algonquin today. Set out from Saratoga at 4:00am. Saw no other cars on my entire northward journey to the Loj. I took it as a sign that today wouldn't be incredibly busy. I was definetly right. Arrived at the Loj at 6:15ish. I always take my sweet ass time getting ready and never rush. Had my act together by 7:30 and was off, haha.

Started out on the Van Ho and immediately ran into an what im thinking was an endangered Spruce Grouse (still awaiting that confirmation though.) Bluebird day though to start even though heavy clouds were forecasted across all weather channels that I saw. Fast forward through about 2 uneventful miles and I ran into my first passer-by. He had hit the trail incredibly early for a sunrise Algonquin. We spoke briefly about how if I hurried I could still catch some views as the clouds predicted were rolling in as fast as ever. I took off, passed the Wright junction and began the part of the trail I had not seen as of yet. I've done Wright but have never gone past the junction.

I was anxious to see how steep things would actually become. I had crossed two low level hairy spots already and was sure there was more. Got to some steep light powdery snow stuff and trekked on up it. Probably the steepest thing I've hiked yet but the footing with the Hillsounds was so good that I wasn't even sweating it. The hike I had on Wright was notably easy for me and much to my surprise so was Algonquin. I got to the summit at around 10ish and was more than satisfied with such time. I never rush out there. I was definetly astounded at Algonquin's size. I felt as though I could fall off the earth at any moment.

By now clouds had engulfed the entire Algonquin cap and the only views to be had were those behind me to Wright and beyond. Those views however were spectacular and blue (for a few moments anyway.) I scurried carefully up to the top and instantly spotted the geodetic stamp. I took a quick pan and a few shots of the stamp. Clouds were thick and I became briefly frightened at where I was and how the hell I'd gotten there, haha.

To be quite honest as most of you know I'm new so I didn't really even know what was going to happen with all the cloud stuff. It was quite high, quite icy and it took me all of three seconds to realize Iroquois would be another trip. I couldn't see very far in front of me let alone out to Iroquois. I was and am content with that decision. So in my mind before this became some silly debacle the plan was to take an easy frickin' checkmark of the second highest peak in NY (YAY!) and get down quickly yet slowly but safely. I'd had plenty of time for pictures and reflection. It was a good day, just easy so the feeling of accomplishment was low, lol. Had the entire summit to myself while I was there. I figured that was something special in its own right.

Passed by a man and a woman on the way down and chatted for about a minute. Trucked back down carefully to the steep powdery snow and had some fun very cautiously sliding down. Started seeing lots of people by 11:00am. Passed maybe 20 along the entire route down and was back down at car by 12:30. I know that isn't considered "blazing" by any means but its pretty good for me. Actually it's really good for me. I usually clock a dismal 1mph so to be at almost 1.5mph is really exciting, lol.

Anyways, great day, wanted to write a report because it's been forever and I thought people might want to know exactly what it looks like out there as of late. Definetly bring spikes. I had the Grivels in the bag and they could've been used without overkill but was just fine with the Hillsounds. Literally two spots in my opinion could've warranted the Grivels. I knew they would blister my heels so I just proceeded cautiously. It's certainly wintery up there though. Don't skimp on the gear. You'll thank me later.

Did not complete the loop but i climbed wright and algonquin. Today was really windy on top, but the view was completely breathtaking. I would recommend that hike 100%.Took me 6h20 and i did mount wright twice. First time was too cloudy.Fun day! :)

Enjoyed the hike. The upper part of the trail was slick due to recent snow and the small dam on the trail had no crossing point (had to cross on a fallen tree). Would like to do it when the leaves are in full color.